For the creation of light effects in connection with concerts, live shows, TV shows, sport events, or as part of an architectural installation, light fixtures creating various light effects are used. A typical entertainment light fixture creates a light beam having a beam width and a beam divergence and can for instance be a wash or flood light fixture creating a relatively wide light beam. Another light fixture is configured to project images/patterns onto a target surface.
Light designers and programmers want as many effects as possible in a light fixture as this gives the light designer or programmer options for creation of light shows. However, it is difficult to provide light fixtures with many effects as for each light effect a component having certain space requirements has to be incorporated into the light fixture. At the same time it is desired to have light and compact light fixtures as these light fixtures are easier to handle, especially when installation is not a permanent installation but may be disassembled after use.
In the entertainment industry there is further an increasing demand for spectacular light effects and there is especially a demand for ability to activate or use the crowd attending the show for the generation of light effects. As a specific example it is known to use wristbands with an embedded LED light source that can be centrally controlled by a radiofrequency signal that is distributed to the attendees of a concert or show at the entrance. Another example is the use of smart phone apps where the user activates the app and accepts that a lighting designer takes control and uses the display as a coloured pixel. The app can be activated by Wifi or ultrasound. Even though smart phones often have location determination capabilities such as a GPS receiver, it might not be accurate and feasible when used indoor so that these apps lack the opportunity to map the position of the pixels.
Light designers are especially searching for a possibility to be able to effectively control different light sources distributed in the audience in dependence on the position of an attendee in the audience. Accordingly, a need exists to be able to generate new light effects, especially when crowd based displays are used in which a crowd of attendees having light sources such as smart phones or wristbands including light sources is present.